Saturday, April 20, 2013

All About Me...

...this is a post about things for "me"!! (It'll be short I won't bore you with my own accolades LOL!!)

First  - "Harmony" - a fun SAL from Lori. First SAL in which I have participated for quite some time (a BOW doesn't count in my book), and I even purchased a couple of reddish/browns from the Generals Wives collection just because my stash just didn't have enough of that for me. When I got it together, I just really liked it - ALOT - so I'm keeping it for me!! It coordinates well with my living room decor! I did machine quilt it with clam shells so I could practice FMQ and following lines - I figure my FMQ is more "humble" than my hand quilting!! LOL Thanks, Lori, for hosting another wonderful little SAL!!!!




Secondly - I recently made an order from Connecting Threads and if you have ordered from them, you know that it is free shipping if your order is $50 or more - well I was about $12 short, so I perused the clearance section and found a book on sale for $12.99! So really I only spent about $6 on the book because I saved shipping by buying the book!! Don't you just love my rationalization!! LOL But I LOVE this book!!! I'm already planning 3 quilts from it!!!



Lastly - a Gift just for "me" from my dear friend Janet O. I missed making Lori's "Abundance", but Janet made it and then sent it to me - just because!!! She knows that I love stars and we have such similar tastes in fabrics and quilts - and I LOVE it!! I haven't decided where to display it - for now it sits on my sewing desk so I can see it, and touch it and be so thankful for it and wonderful friends!! Thanks Janet!!





Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Stitching, Stitching, Stitching...

...but not too much on TWQ - boo hoo. What with garden to prepare/plant, seedlings to start, cattle to move, calves to mark, nanny goats to check as kidding is soon to start, Border Collies to work, cooking, cleaning, KEEPING GRACEN twice a week (woo hoo!!), all my other stitching projects took precedence over TWQ. But it is back on the front burner and I make time every day to hand quilt - my favorite kind of stitching, though it takes longer!

So here's my other stitching projects - some finishes and some WIPs:

1. I finished the flimsy for my Christmas Sampler Quilt - I call it "Joys of Christmas". It is 88" square and will fit a full bed nicely. Now, I need your input - how to quilt it? I would love to hear every opinion out there!





2. I made another "Spring has Sprung" small quilt. I made four 8" blocks this time instead of nine 6" blocks. This is for a door prize for guild. So many of the ladies liked it and one asked if I would donate the first one as a door prize, I decided to make another - just for them.



3. I'm all caught up on BB Grandmother's Choice blocks!! I've pictured the pieced blocks, but I also pieced an equal amount of chain blocks, too!



4. I've finished two more Stadium quilts for my booth at the market. The black/gold/white one is all FMQ!!! I'm really pleased with the "snail tails" in the diagonal blocks! I just straight line cross hatched the maroon/gray/white one.




5. Lyn, my dil, asked me to make a quilt for her for her mom's birthday. She ordered the fabric on-line, and shipped it to me. I knew she wanted a chevron pattern, so I thought, no problem. But when I opened the box I went - WOW how am I (Ms. traditional fabric girl going to every put these together!!!) But with the help from Mikkie, we laid it out and I think it turned out very well! Lyn loved it (she wondered the same thing when she first saw the fabric, too!! LOL) and she is sure that her mom with love it too! So fun to make something outside your comfort zone! I just FMQed a meander as I felt like the fabric needed to tell the story!



6. Susan over at Starwood Quilter is hosting a Quilter's book club. I'm doing redwork blocks to represent the books and I finished the first two. "The Persian Pickle Club" was our first book, and I didn't know that a Persian Pickle was a Paisley! Did you? Well, I found a pretty Paisley sketch on google images and used it for my first block. The second book - "A Single Thread" by Marie Bostwick, talks about friends helping to mend broken hearts - so I created a broken heart being stitched back  together with a "single thread"!! I'm having fun with this, as it is relaxing to embroider small blocks (9") while I'm watching TV with Mike!


7. My leaders/enders project are 3" nine patches for another Christmas Quilt.


8. Have you seen Ruth's finished CWR quilt? Well, it is absolutely wonderful!!! She quilted "hooked" wreaths in her setting blocks, and I was so inspired by her and her tutorial, that I practiced! I'm thinking about doing the same for the setting blocks on "Joys of Christmas". What do you think?



Hope this finds each of you doing well!!